Jacob Shaffer, who got life in prison for pleading guilty to five murders in Tennessee, sits with his attorneys in Judge Karen Hall's courtroom in the Madison County Courthouse during a hearing on his capital murder charge in Madison County for the death of Sidney Wade Dempsey Friday March 9, 2012 in Huntsville, Alabama. (The Huntsville Times/Robin Conn)

The filing this afternoon by attorneys Corrie Collins and Ron Smith is in response to the prosecution's notice earlier this year that it planned to "assert prior felony convictions" to impeach the defendant or enhance his sentence.

The defense argues that information about prior bad acts are generally barred by the courts, because the information can prejudice a jury.

Shaffer, 33, is charged here with killing of Sidney Wade Dempsey, 50, on July 17, 2009, at Hall Marble in Huntsville. Dempsey was bludgeoned to death, according to police.

Madison County Assistant District Attorneys Jay Town and Thomas Glover informed the court in March that the state plans to seek the death penalty for Shaffer.

Shaffer is accused of killing Dempsey, then getting a ride to Lincoln County, where he attacked his estranged wife, members of her family and a family friend.

The evidence is admissible," Town said today. "The reason why he did what he did to Sidney Dempsey was because he wanted to find out if he had the mettle to kill his wife and whoever else was in his way. The crimes are absolutely connected."

Shaffer pleaded guilty in 2011 to the Tennessee murders and received five life sentences.

Attorneys for both sides will be in court Tuesday for a hearing on the defense's motion to suppress statements Shaffer made to law enforcement officers following the killings. The defense is arguing that the statements were "obtained in violation of the defendant's privilege against self-incrimination and his right to counsel" and were not voluntary.

Shaffer told the first deputy on the scene in Lincoln County to handcuff him, after the deputy found him sitting on a curb, according to the filing. He told Deputy Bob Jones there were bodies inside the house, and after Jones discovered three bodies, Shaffer pointed him to a second house where two more bodies were found.

Shaffer then told the deputy there was another body in Huntsville and he should call the Huntsville Police Department.

The defense also wants to bar statements Shaffer made to investigators from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Huntsville Police Department.